Chapter 1

It should've been a five-minute walk to my best friend's wedding. Instead, I end up in a graveyard.

I'm already in my bridesmaid dress. Bella's getting married in a little countryside chapel at the edge of town, and the ceremony starts at sunset. I've been walking for over fifteen minutes, and somehow I'm standing in the middle of a bunch of old tombstones.

I call Bella right away.

"Bella, where are you guys? I think I took a wrong turn."

She picks up instantly. "We're at the chapel! Just follow the red balloons along the road, you can't miss it."

I freeze. I was following the balloons. That's exactly how I ended up here.

I figure I must've missed a turn somewhere, so I double back. But no matter which way I go, I end up right back at the same graveyard.

Cold sweat runs down my spine. I ask Bella to share her location. I follow the pin through a patch of woods, and, I'm back at the graveyard. Again.

The ceremony's about to start. Bella keeps calling, over and over. I'm running around like crazy trying to find a way out, and then...

My foot hits nothing.

I fall off a cliff. And I die.

Then I open my eyes, and it's the same day all over again.

...

The first thing I see is the graveyard.

Bella's family does sunset weddings. It's some old tradition. The sun is sinking low, and the tombstones cast long shadows across the ground. They look like cold, dead eyes staring straight at me.

A shiver rips through my whole body.

I bolt back to the road and call Bella.

"Bella, I think I'm lost. Can you come get me?"

She sounds panicked immediately. "Lost? Where are you? Didn't you follow the balloons?"

I stare at the trail of big red balloons lined up along the road.

I want to cry.